


Something to Push Against

by incogneat_oh



Series: That One Hug Meme [15]
Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Jason & Tim's reluctant brotherly bond is my favourite thing, Prompt Fill, hug meme, tiny emotional breakdowns, weird families bonding weirdly, you can probably tell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 14:56:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12235173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/incogneat_oh/pseuds/incogneat_oh
Summary: Jason asks, hesitantly, “Is it something I–?”“Oh myGod,” Tim says, wiping his nose, “You got here like, twelve seconds ago,no, and anyway,I’m not crying.”A hurt/comfortprompt fill.





	Something to Push Against

Jason Todd makes it a point to never feel out of place. Cocktail party in his leather jacket and bedhead? Okay. Going drive-thru in a tux? No problem.

Tim Drake’s swanky apartment in holey-kneed jeans and his  _1984_ sweatshirt with yesterday’s five-o’clock shadow? Can do. He is not uncomfortable. Even though Tim’s neighbours  _clearly_ are.

Well, it’s a Tuesday afternoon, and he has a  _key_. So they can suck it. 

He rummages around in his pocket to dig it out, barely remembering to enter Tim’s alarm code. That would’ve been embarrassing. 

He swings open the apartment door, and sighs. “Aww geez, babybird, I didn’t think you’d be home. I was gonna borrow your computer and order a pizza or something–” and he  _stops_. 

Because the kid is sitting on his sofa, scrunched up in his Tim-Drake clothes, and. He’s  _crying_. There are like, tissues, balled up in his lap, and his eyes are all bloodshot and wet, and his nose is dripping. But he’s stopped, probably out of shock at Jason Todd having just burst uninvited into his living room, and they are just  _staring_ at each other. 

And Jason says, “Shit,” and “ _Shit_ , are you crying?” at the same time as Tim half-shouts;

“No!”

“You’re totally crying!” says Jason, which is not at all what he meant to say, but the kid’s eyes are puffy and his nose is still running, and there’s still tears leaking and stuff.

“No I’m not,” Tim argues, against all logic. His voice is watery, and he scrubs his face with the sleeve of his hoodie.

There is a pause, where Jason just stands there. Probably looking stupid, with his mouth all open. He asks, hesitantly, “Is it something I–?” 

“Oh my  _God_ ,” Tim says, wiping his nose, “You got here like, twelve seconds ago,  _no_ , and anyway,  _I’m not crying_.”

 Jason can feel himself frowning. But he doesn’t argue. What he  _does_ do is take a step closer to the couch, where the Replacement’s sitting–

and he scrambles to his feet, sending a cascade of used tissues to the floor. 

“What?” Jason says, and Tim says, “What?” too.

Then Jason says, (because he probably should’ve said it before now), “… You okay?”

“Yes, I don’t even know why we’re talking about this,” he says, with feeling. Like Jason’s the stupid one here, when he’s still scrubbing tears on his sleeve. 

And Jason moves closer again, which prompts Tim to take another step backward. Keeping the same distance between them. 

Jason… frowns again. He isn’t– he– he takes another few steps, which the babybird matches, in his awkward little backwards-scramble. Eyes wide and still too watery. 

But Jason’s relentless, still moving forward. Tim starts around the other side of the room, and, before he knows it, Jason is involved in possibly the strangest chase ever. Tim’s still walking backward, somehow unwilling to turn his back on Jason, and they’re speeding up. In a tiny-circle, around Tim’s coffee table.

“What’re you–?”

Jason reaches out an arm– “Stand still you little shit, I’m gonna give you a hug.”

Tim’s eyes go wider still, trying to match Jason’s pace, and he says, half-panicked, “No thanks–“

But his eyes are still fogged-up with tears, and really, Jason’s arms (and legs), are much, much longer. So it’s only a matter of time until he can catch Tim and reel him in to a firm hug.

After a long moment, Tim, face buried, says “… did you actually mean a hug?”

“ _Yes,_ I actually meant– dammit, you are such an ass,” Jason says, patting his back anyway. And he can’t help but grin, when the kid’s arms, a little tremble-y, reach up to hug him back. He feels warm but too-small, and he smells like kid-shampoo. The kind Alfred used to buy for him, before…  _before._

“I thought it was a euphemism,” Tim mumbles uncomfortably, “For something violent.”

And Jason doesn’t say anything to that, just squeezes tighter for a second. Feels Tim’s hitching breath starting to settle a little.

After a minute, “Did you need me to beat someone up?”

There is a laugh that sounds a bit like a hiccup, somewhere around his collarbone, and a, “No, thank you.”

And Jason just waits there for a few minutes, feeling the kid relax. Waiting until he’s pulled himself together enough to draw back. Then, while Tim heads for his little mountain of used-tissues, already starting to hide the evidence of his tiny breakdown, Jason says, “Pizza okay with you?”

Tim’s got his back to Jason but he nods, says, “I keep some cash in the cutlery drawer–“

Jason snorts. “Rich-boy,” he drawls. “I was gonna use that  _anyway_.”

And Tim just gives a snort-laugh, half glancing over his shoulder, eyes red-rimmed but dry. And his teeth are showing in a smile.

**END.**

**Author's Note:**

> Also on [tumblr.](http://incogneat-oh.tumblr.com/post/80102730953/i-know-you-have-a-ton-of-prompts-already-but)


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